Ok this has been driving me crazy for months now. And with the weather getting nice, I can't drive with my windows down!

I have what sounds like a ball bearing rattling around inside my center cap on the drivers side. It's very noticeable when coming to a stop and turning the wheel at the same time. As if you put lateral torque on the suspension. Also, will do it intermittently if stopping in a straight line. Loud enough to hear over the stacks at idle.

The truck has a new track bar, new sway bar links, new brakes and new front wheel bearings. It has been making the noise since before this work was done. I've pulled the wheel off and checked everything, all is tight, nothing rubbing. The only thing I can think of is, a bad shock?? It has crappy ProComps on right now.

Truck doesn't handle bad or brake bad. Just makes this annoying noise when stopping. Also, cannot duplicate noise if sitting still in driveway.


Please help I'm going nucking futz over this!!!

 

could it be a u-joint?

 

is it the hub cap itself? Looks like you got aftermarket wheels. Wouldn't make sense why just when stopping but my chrome center caps rattled and I took some big orings and rolled over them so they stayed tight against the hub when the rim is tightened down.

 

Is it bad that I can turn the front center caps by hand?

There is no side to side movement though.

 

Find a way to mount those center caps solid , at least temporarily , and see if the noise goes away.

 

If you tighten the center caps, the noise will go away. I hear those caps rattlen on everything they come on.

..Preston..

 

Thanks for the help guys.
Can I use rubber o-rings over the caps? What type works best?

 

Nope didn't work. Something rattles around up there like the world's gonna end. It's loud enough to draw unwanted attention from people outside of the truck.

The only thing I haven't tried is trying to super tighten the bottom front shock bolts, with a large impact. However, I don't think they're loose since I can't move them by hand, with a big ratchet or breaker bar. Shocks don't move around at all.

 

try a shake down on your u-joints.. on the front drive line.. make sure it doesnt move..

 

You might pull your shocks off though and have a look at the bushings. I had one that was doing the same thing . . . rattle like the whole front end was going to fall off. I got under there and tried to tighten the lower bolt, nothing doing. So I pulled it and found out that the hole was enlarged. Bought a new shock and put it in, no further problems.

 

That's exactly what I'm wondering. Everything else underneath is tight. Now including the center caps. I guess I'll pull the shock and check out that lower bolt hole.
I've been told it can be a problem because of the weight of the diesel.

Thanks.

 

I second the u-joint in the axle shaft also don't forget the one on the front drive shaft, that was my problem

 

Ok.. I was unable to pull the shock because I don't have air tools and my friend installed those shocks with an impact. However, I put a pry bar on the bottom mount and applied pressure. Shock doesn't move in the mount at all.
While I was under there I happened to grab the top of the tire and guess what? It made the noise!! So I come to realize that although I can't rock it much, if I "bear hug" the tire and push left to right, as in trying to turn the truck left or right. The sound comes out loud and clear. This is with the truck on the ground!
If the u-joint in the axle is bad, wouldn't that make more of a thumping sound?
What ball joints is everybody talking about?

I'm tired of putting money into the suspension on this truck. It only has 109k and I've already spent close to $2,000 just to get to this point. I'm thinking if this turns out to be another couple hundred $$$, the wife will say ditch it. The truck will be sitting on a used car lot and can be someone else's problem!
-New brakes front and rear
-New sway bar links front and rear
-New front sway bar
-New Moog track bar
-New rotors
-New rear axle seals
-New front wheel bearings
-New steering stabilizer

 

I had to replace front axle wheel u-joints on mine due to a nasty "rocks rolling around in a coffee can" noise. I bet thats what it is. Any time a car or a wall was next to you, it sounded aweful and you'd just roll up the windows.

Just grab the ujoint and try to rotate, if you can't on the axle side of the joint, try on the wheel side. If it moves at all it's busted.

Joel

 

Joel,
Yes that describes it to a T! However, I can go in and out of 4wd without stopping. No binding or grinding. If I had a bad U-joint I shouldn't be able to do this, correct?

Anyway, the truck goes to the shop tomorrow. What should a new U-joint should cost.

Thanks for everyone's replies. Hopefully I can take care of it this week.

Perhaps one day, Dodge will learn how to build heavy duty suspension components.